17 nations launch pact to protect vital undersea cables amid US, China absence
Singapore’s defence chief tells the Shangri-La Dialogue the pact aims to explore potential areas of collaboration and share best practices
Seventeen countries have agreed to collaborate on defence strategies for critical marine infrastructure such as undersea cables, an effort that analysts warn may be undermined by the absence of superpower involvement.
The 17 nations that endorsed the Guide comprise Singapore, Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines, Thailand, Australia, New Zealand, Qatar, Estonia, Finland, France, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, the Netherlands, Sweden and the United Kingdom.
China and the United States were notably absent from the list.
At the launch, Singapore’s Defence Minister Chan Chun Sing said waterways were not just avenues for trade but also housed critical underwater infrastructure that provided connectivity for energy and telecommunications.
“Today, if we are honest with ourselves, we will know that we have quite a lot of work to do to establish the international norms on how we can lay those critical infrastructures … but more importantly, how to maintain them and how to prevent people from disrupting them,” he said.